5. OK Club

Reporter: “And the name of the club, the OK Club, does it have any particular meaning?”

Ben Wilcox: “Well, not really, it came from a Little Richard album, a live Little Richard album where they go, “good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the OK Club.” That’s where it came from.  It’s just a, you know nice thought that everything’s OK everybody’s OK, with us but not really... Hey edit that part out!”

For more from Ben Wilcox and members of the Slut Boys, such as Donny Crenshaw, consider checking out recently resurfaced archive WFSU posted by Panhandle Punk Productions. 


as well as


The OK Club was the namesake of the recording and practice space of the notorious Tallahassee punk group The Slut Boys. Their private recording space, not to be confused with a brief venue in the Spring of 1985 of the same name. The 1985 OK Club would host Tallahassee punk bands such as Sector 4 and Persian Gulf. Leading the movement to preserve the history of punk in northern Florida is @80stallypunk on Instagram and also check out their website, Panhandle Punk Productions. Once on the website, I suggest you navigate to the flyer archive, where hundreds of flyers throughout the 1980s from the Tallahassee and North Florida punk scene are availabile to the public.



As the discussion of DIY and community engagement continues on this blog, this post serves as an encouragement. Whether a Tallahassee native or not, explore your communities history of punk or alternative music, and also understand how you can do it to. How punk, a global movement can fester in various geographic corners is just an example of the dissemination of a counter culture, and a need for self expression. In Tallahassee The Slut Boys, or London The Sex Pistols, its purpose universal while still unique in its own historical, geographic, and cultural context.

TO RELATE THIS TO THE TECHNO OF DETROIT

via “Discovering Detroit’s Techno Roots” Chloe Seymour writes “In an era of 1980s social conservatism outside Detroit city lines, the early shows served as safe havens for youthful listeners, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. To this day, techno gatherings continue to provide a refuge from the mainstream for marginalized groups and listeners.”

Historical context linked Berlin and Detroit in their unique struggles post-industry and as they continued to find their footing on the way back – techno was the soundtrack and soother in these transitions. Forever united by these sounds, the sounds of Detroit techno remain a mainstay in Berlin nightlife.”

LONDON TO TALLAHASSEE DETROIT TO BERLIN 
GLOBAL STRUGGLES LOCAL CULTURES
EVERYONE JUST TRYING TO BE OK FOR A LITTLE WHILE

XOXOXYZ